The dynamical systems theory has been applied to the coordination of e.g., limb movements (finger, arm, legs) and has been extended to linguistic theory (Haken et al. 1985). An important component of dynamical systems is the concept of point attractors, which are stable states in the continuous phase space the system travels towards. I will showcase how these attractors help to understand the variability in speech output and its relation to linguistic functions, e.g., when investigating sound change, phonological alternations or prosodic prominence on the segmental and intonational tiers (Browman & Goldstein 1986; Gafos & Benus 2006; Roessig & Mücke 2019).